Raise DC

In April 2012, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and then Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright joined leaders from the public, private, philanthropic and nonprofit sectors to launch Raise DC, the District’s cradle-to-career partnership.

The District of Columbia has hundreds of individual programs and initiatives seeking to improve educational outcomes for children and youth, ages 0-24. While there are pockets of excellence, as a city the District has yet to improve outcomes for all youth. Raise DC is a community-wide movement to catalyze a culture shift in the District from competition over resources to collaboration that focuses on ensuring our young people have the strongest chance for success, from cradle to career. Raise DC convenes and connects leaders across sectors, ensures data guides practice, advocates for policies, and defines ways to repurpose existing time, talent, and treasure to scale up work that gets results.

Deputy Mayor Smith has continued to serve as a key government champion and engaged partner as Raise DC transitions from DME, where it was originally incubated, to the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. For more information on Raise DC visit the Raise DC website.